Commute's a breeze for Burke's Dwyer

GOSHEN — Wake up at 4:30 a.m. Out the door at 5. Catch the train at approximately 5:36 every day.

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By JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ

recordonline.com

By JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ

Posted Dec. 23, 2012 at 2:00 AM

By JUSTIN RODRIGUEZ

Posted Dec. 23, 2012 at 2:00 AM

» Social News

GOSHEN — Wake up at 4:30 a.m. Out the door at 5. Catch the train at approximately 5:36 every day.

Welcome to the exhausting world of a commuter. Straphangers from upstate, bound for New Jersey and New York City, have made this tiring trek for years with briefcase in hand.

And, for the last two years, seated among the Wall Street heavy hitters, PR executives and blue-collar workers, was Monroe teenager Jack Dwyer. His destination? St. Benedict's Prep in Newark, N.J., where Dwyer went to school.

These days, Dwyer is chauffeured into school by his mom or another parent. What a difference between a 20-minute drive to John S. Burke Catholic and almost, a half-day in itself, commuting to Newark.

"I get two more hours of sleep now. I love it," said Dwyer, a junior guard. "Commuting was definitely really hard. On some days, we had 6:30 a.m. workouts, so I had to leave even earlier. Or my dad would drive me down. I was just tired, really, really, tired."

Every morning, Dwyer departed the Metro-North station in Harriman for Newark. He caught a connection in Secaucus, N.J., before hopping a bus in Newark. Dwyer walked two blocks to St. Benedict's, where he was a reserve.

On some nights, for instance, when it snowed — Dwyer and his dad just booked a hotel in Newark overnight.

"They bust on me for being an early riser," Burke Catholic coach Doug Janeczko said. "But Jack was getting up earlier than me. You give him all the credit in the world. Jack went for his dream, playing at the highest level. I'm sure if he stuck it out, he would have been successful there. But he's a good fit."

Dwyer comes off the bench for Burke Catholic, loaded in the backcourt, playing point guard. At 5-foot-7, he can handle the ball, pass and shoot.

Dwyer's also tough, growing up playing in the St. Patrick's CYO program in Monroe, and the Zion Lions AAU program in the heart of Newburgh's unforgiving streets.

Besides giving up his status as a battle-tested commuter, Burke Catholic made sense for Dwyer for other reasons. His uncle, Adam Kless, is the school's athletic director. Dwyer played with several of Burke Catholic's players with the AAU outfit the B.C. Eagles.

Perhaps, most attractive of all, is setting his alarm clock every night for approximately 6:30 a.m.